Maszlee's Meeting with Students on the IIUM Presidency

(Watch the entire thing in a series of videos (1,2,3) on Maryam's page. Because Malaysian reporters tido and you have to dive into raw footage... )

Having watched the footage of the entire meeting between Masz and the students, the following observations were made.

1. Masz admits that Madey made the appointment, and that the Sultan only ratified it. This is per constitutional protocol of UUIM. This was in response to a constitutional question raised by Asheeq. Now that being established, we clearly see that the modus operandi is Madey's, which we are well acquainted with - he has a history of breaking systematic checks and balances in order to operationalise plans post haste. But what is the plan?

2. Masz begins the meeting (and elaborates, after the first student declaration) by stating that he wants to see students represented in the governance of public universities.

2.1. He notes that for this to happen, formally representative student unions must be formed - and this is currently blocked by Act 30. To amend Act 30 will take a period of time lasting through a minimum of one session of Parliament, maybe more, and amendments may be hindered by an uncooperative Senate.

2.2. So he reaches for UUIM and UITM which are not bound by Act 30. Here he plans to establish student unions, and place student representatives in the university senates; he also mentions placing university alumni on the boards of governances, and returning powers to the rectory.

3. Masz also talks about his mandate coming from those who have elected him, and refers to his own (book!) sense of ethics which requires that leadership stems from trust. He also exposes us to his cultural lens as he values [the trust provided by Madey, rubberstamped by the Sultan] over [the absence of trust among his constituents (students)].

3.1. The students are quite clear on this, and promise to mobilise protests if their demands are not met.

3.2. Meanwhile, Masz holds a press conference, keeps his messaging very clean, and focuses ON COVERING MADEY'S ASS. He promises to challenge Madey's order, though he does this in a tone which offers the greatest difference to mahafiruan.

3.2.1. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It demonstrates Masz's political aptitude while reminding me of my main concern about his appointment as MOE: Masz may be the finest MOE we have had in decades, possibly in the history of the country, but can he push back hard enough against Mahathirism of either the old or new variety? Odds still look even. Wait and see.

4. Masz also exposed a weak grasp of English: he misunderstood "what do you expect from this meeting?" to mean, "what do you hope from this meeting?" (you can hear him rephrase himself in Malay, where he uses the word "harapan (hope)," instead of "tuntutan (demand)," or even "jangkaan (estimation)," and so he sounds as if he is dodging the subject.

5. Masz's overall MOE press performance remains disappointing, despite 3.2. It doesn't seem like his team has the skillset to analyse and lay out such as the above for him, so that he can circumvent these from hitting the press the wrong way. He's an INTP implementing an INTJ's policies, and he's not doing enough to make them popular.

(Unless of course, 4. and the whole kerfuffle in general are an intentional distraction from other issues in the Harapan universe. Academic freedom is a nothing-burger in the one-to-three-year term. But it will matter a lot more in the three-to-ten, and ultimately it is pivotal in the ten-to-thirty.)